Phantom (17 page)

She locked the bathroom doors even as Debbie was checking under the stalls to make sure they were alone. Rebecca was getting nervous. She had never seen her friends act so strangely. It seemed like hours passed before they were sure the bathroom was secure and even then they stood there in silence, surrounded by the smell of bathroom disinfectant. She waited for her friends to explain themselves, but they just stared at each other stupidly, each one waiting—no
hoping
, that the other would begin.

“Is someone going to tell me why I’ve been abducted?”

Debbie was twitching nervously as she ran her hands through her short hair. “We wanted to get to you before you saw it.”

“Saw
what
?” Apparently they needed some prompting.

Carmen shook her head. “Girl, you don’t even want to know. You should just go down to the nurse’s office right now and beg to be sent home for the day.”

“What are you
talking
about?”

Debbie took a folded newspaper out of her backpack, and handed it to Rebecca, which only added to her confusion. She shook her head in exasperation as she flipped it over to the front page. She stared down at the familiar face on the cover, and it all started to fall into place. The pointing and the laughter when she had come in the door had nothing to do with Justyn. They were laughing at
her
because she had made front-page news.

It was only the school newspaper. A thin, four page printout that was handed out every Monday morning by the mousy little editor-in-chief. Normally, the articles were the typical boring stories that were found in high school papers across the country. Like which sports team was heading to the championships or who was most likely to be elected class president. Never before had anything so blatantly scandalous been splashed across the front page. Rebecca had to wonder how it had made it past the teacher who was the newspaper’s moderator.

“Phantom Star Rebecca Hope Named Number One Suspect in Russ Murder”

That one line was horrible enough. But the humiliation didn’t end with the headline. It only got worse as she skimmed through the whole article. A little further down, right under an old yearbook photo of Mr. Russ, a disgusting question was raised in large bold print.

“Russ & Hope—were they involved in a secret love affair?”

The very thought made Rebecca a little sick to her stomach. Mr. Russ had been old enough to be her grandfather. He had been dirty, and about as unattractive as humanely possible. She wanted to die from the shame of the whole thing. As soon as she thought that, she felt guilty, because poor Mr. Russ
was
dead, and possibly murdered. Even pity for the old janitor couldn’t overshadow the complete
humiliation
of having such horrible lies printed about her for the entire school to see. It didn’t even matter than everyone knew it wasn’t true. This was high school. They were going to use this against her anyway. Who could have printed it? Who hated her this much?

“Becca, are you all right?” Debbie asked.

She and Carmen were both standing at a careful distance in case she decided to start throwing things. They were right to be cautious. Rebecca was furious—angrier than she had ever been before. Angrier than she knew she was capable of. She crumpled the newspaper into a ball, and with a cry of outraged fury, she sent it hurtling across the linoleum.

“
Who
did this?” she demanded. “
Who
?”

She didn’t wait for them to answer. She already knew who was responsible. There was only one person nasty and vindictive enough to pull off this kind of stunt. There was only one person in the whole school who hated Rebecca enough to try to tarnish her reputation this way. And she was going to find that person and straighten her out once and for all.

 Rebecca unlocked the bathroom door and burst into the crowded hallway without waiting to see if Carmen and Debbie would follow her. Anyone who dared to look at her and giggle was immediately silenced by her smoldering glare. Most of them probably started to wonder if she really
was
capable of murder. At that moment, she was starting to wonder herself, because only one fantasy kept playing through her head. That fantasy involved wrapping her hands around Wendy Wright’s neck and squeezing it until she turned blue. When she spotted her at her locker, laughing with her friends as she held up the offensive newspaper, that fantasy very nearly became a reality.

Wendy saw her coming, and the hearty laughter settled into a pleased smirk. Rebecca had always thought she was pretty, but her personality was really bringing out her ugly side, and it had nothing to do with the fading cuts on her face. Rebecca felt the last of her self-control slipping away.

“How
could
you do this to me?” She grabbed the newspaper from Wendy’s hands and tossed it haphazardly to the ground.

“Do what, Becca? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The feigned wide-eyed innocence was ten times worse than the open sarcasm. It pushed Rebecca right over the edge. She took both Wendy and herself completely by surprise when she shoved the blonde against her locker with all her strength. Nevertheless, Wendy knew how to play a better game, and she was a good actress. The innocent look quickly changed to startled fear, and the people around them probably thought Rebecca was as crazy as Wendy tried to make her out to be in her article.

“Becca, please don’t hurt me!”

Wendy put her arms up to make it look like she was defending herself. Rebecca noticed a few teachers peeking out their doors to see what was happening, and she let her arms fall down to her side, defeated. There wasn’t anything she could do about the newspaper article. There wasn’t anything she could do about Wendy in general. She had won this round. Wendy knew it, and she smiled.

“I warned you,” Wendy whispered, just loud enough for Rebecca to hear her. “I told you I’d get you back for the mirror.”

Rebecca started to shake her head, when she had a sudden realization. Denials hadn’t worked. Peace talks hadn’t worked. Maybe the only type of conversation that
would
work with Wendy was threats. Maybe that was the only language that she understood. Maybe Rebecca needed to jump on board and threaten her right back.

“You better be careful, Wendy,” Rebecca told her. “The next time someone throws you into a mirror, maybe you won’t survive.”

Chapter Nineteen

“Watch out! There’s the psycho killer!”

A group of underclassman snickered as they passed by Rebecca and her friends. Rebecca felt her face turn crimson for what must have been the millionth time that week. She had to wonder when the childishness was going to end—if it was
ever
going to end. Maybe she would just spend the rest of her senior year in exile.

“Wendy is the only psycho in this school,” Carmen called out loudly from their corner of the stage. Her voice carried pretty far, and a few people turned to stare at her, including Wendy. The look she gave them was anything but friendly. Wendy had the masses on her side, as the popular crowd always did.

“Really, Becca, you shouldn’t let her bother you anymore,” Debbie told her. “Everyone will have forgotten about this stupid joke by the end of the weekend. They’ll have moved on to another victim.”

Rebecca would have loved to believe that. But five days had passed and it hadn’t been enough to make anyone forget about the newspaper article yet. In fact, the rumors had gotten even more twisted as they were passed from one gossipy teenager to the next. The last she had heard, she was having Mr. Russ’s love child. The stigma didn’t end with her. Carmen and Debbie had become outcasts by association. Rebecca never appreciated them more than she did that week. They stood by her through every taunt and sneer, and had truly proven themselves loyal friends. It only gave Rebecca one more thing to feel guilty about. She sat down on the edge of the stage and put her head in her hands.

“I’m so sorry that you guys got dragged into this mess.”

Carmen shrugged. “What are friends for?”

“After all, we’re
The Three Musketeers
, right?”

“That is
sooo
corny, Deb,” Carmen complained with a roll of her brown eyes.

Practice was about to begin and they all moved to their allotted spots, promising to get together when they were done. The rehearsal proceeded without any problems. Rebecca noticed, not for the first time, that Tom seemed to be avoiding her. He called her every night, but in school he was always conveniently unavailable during the times when they would normally run into each other. Justyn, on the other hand, seemed to be lurking around every corner, and took her new leper status as further proof that they were destined to be together. He never came right out and said that he found the whole thing amusing. He didn’t have to. She could sense that he enjoyed the fact that Tom, and every other available male, was staying away from her. This left the door wide open for him to make his move. That might have been the one bright side of the whole ridiculous situation.

“So, are you ready for tomorrow night?” Justyn asked as they packed up to leave after practice.

“Do I need to wear a black cloak?”

He laughed good-naturedly. “You could wear a burlap sack if you wanted and I wouldn’t care. You’d still be beautiful.”

Rebecca felt her cheeks grow warm, and that fluttery feeling had finally returned with a vengeance. “You still aren’t going to tell me where we’re going, are you?”

“Not a chance. But trust me; you’re going to love it. I’ll be at your house around six tomorrow,” he told her with a secretive wink. “See you then.”

He headed out to his bike, leaving Rebecca slightly breathless and completely flustered in his wake.
Trust me
, he had said. And strangely enough, though she had plenty of reasons not to, she
did
trust him. She remained nervous about their date. What kind of places did Gothic Wiccans take their would-be girlfriends? She kept having visions of a candle-lit dinner in a cemetery. But she knew that was silly. She had read Justyn’s book. While it had left her with just as many questions as it did answers, she knew she had nothing to worry about. If he were going to take her someplace witchy, it would probably be a drum circle in the woods. Such a gathering might actually be fun, as long as everyone in attendance kept their clothes on.

Rebecca was still daydreaming when Tom came out from behind the auditorium doors. Carmen and Debbie were right behind him and were quick to run interference. They knew Tom had been avoiding her, and they weren’t happy about it. They both shot him dirty looks as he walked towards them with his shoulders slouched, his hands shoved in his pockets, and a pathetically guilty look on his face.

Good. He should feel guilty
, Rebecca thought. Even though he was coming to talk to her, she wasn’t about to forgive him. He was only willing to be seen with her now that the hallway was empty.

“Hey, Bec,” he said. “How ya doing?”

“Not bad, considering I’m the laughing stock of the whole school,” Rebecca told him. “So, what gives me the honor of
your
presence today, Tom?”

He flinched at the cold tone of her voice, but he knew very well that he deserved it, and probably a lot more. “I’ve kind of been a jerk, haven’t I?”
Rebecca only snorted.

“Jerk doesn’t begin to describe you,” Carmen said with a frown.

Debbie continued to glare at him. Since she was significantly bigger than him, it was threat enough. Tom cleared his throat nervously. He knew he was outnumbered three to one.

“Yeah, well, I think I found a way to make it up to you.”

“Not likely,” Carmen muttered.

Rebecca was inclined to agree with her best friend—especially when Tom pulled out a copy of the school newspaper and handed it to her. She came very close to tearing it into pieces and tossing it back in his face. The last thing she wanted was to see that horrible article again. But when she tried to shred it, Tom reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s
next
week’s edition. I got you an advance copy,” he explained. “Wendy isn’t the only one who has pull with the nerds. Remember, Jay is my best friend.”

That got a small smile out of her, but her friends still narrowed their eyes suspiciously. Rebecca took a deep breath, and pulled open the newspaper. It
was
a different edition. Emblazoned across the front page was a very unflattering photo of Wendy. Above the photo was the simple headline:

“Wendy Wright’s Lies Revealed, by Tom Rittenhouse”

Rebecca went on to read the surprisingly well-written article that outlined out all the events that had taken place between Rebecca and Wendy. It began with Wendy’s jealous reaction to the play casting and ended with her nasty article. It cast Wendy in a very bad, though extremely accurate, light. Tom was putting his head on the chopping block, and he knew it. He was taking the risk and doing it all for Rebecca.

“Tom I . . . I don’t know what to say . . . .”

“Say thank you!” Debbie told her. She was reading every word over Rebecca’s shoulder.

“Or say rest in peace,” Carmen added. “Because when Wendy sees this, your ass is toast.”

Tom heaved a heavy sigh. “She already knows. I asked her nicely more than once to admit what she did and have the article rescinded. But she wouldn’t back down. So this is the price she has to pay. Someone needs to teach her that she can’t treat people this way and pay no consequences.”